Tag: social media

We’re over a month into autumn, now, so what better time to talk about fall self-care, right? Better late than never.

Self-care is something that you should pay attention to all year long, of course, but there’s something about fall that inspires me to think about it a little more critically. Some of the things you do for yourself for fall self-care might be a little different than the rest of the year, and that can be a a good thing.

Disclosure Announcement: Some of my posts contain affiliate links that I’ll clearly designate, which means that I earn a small amount back if you click through my link and purchase something. It doesn’t cost you any more and helps me to keep my site going. That commission doesn’t affect my opinion about whatever I’m recommending.

What Makes Fall Self-care Different?

For the purposes of this topic, it’s probably important to note that I’m in the southeastern part of the United States. Your weather and your experience at this time of year might be different.

Where I live, fall is finally starting to make itself known. The leaves are finally changing, the weather is getting cooler (for the most part), and the Christmas decorations have been out in stores since August. (Whole other issue there.)

It’s also a time of year when I personally start experiencing fall allergies, might get sick more often, and just generally feel more run down. I’ve gotten through the hot, humid depths of summer and I’m ready to shed all of that — much like the trees are shedding their leaves — and let a newer version of me out.

Paying attention to what I’m doing to care for myself at this time helps me to do all of that.

What Qualifies?

Here’s where we start to have fun. There are people who will tell you that fall self-care — and any self-care, for that matter — consists of specific tasks and to dos or it doesn’t count. I’m not going to be that dictatorial with you. In the end, whatever helps you to feel better and loved by yourself is self-care, even if that means that you’re just paying attention and not necessarily doing one particular thing.

That said, if you need or want some ideas to help you map out your fall self-care plan, I’ve got some.

Start a Gratitude Journal

I’m a huge fan of journaling in general and gratitude journaling in particular. Focusing on what you’re grateful for helps you to shift your mindset, particularly if you’re feeling a lot of lack right now. This isn’t about ignoring what you’re truly lacking or in need of, by the way. It’s about noticing and acknowledging that you do have plenty to be grateful for already and you can work toward having more to feel grateful for. This doesn’t have to be elaborate. You can jot one to three words on scrap paper and it’s a gratitude journal.

If you’re interested in journaling in general, especially in order to do some shadow work and to get deeply into some issues that have been bothering you, I highly recommend {affiliate link alert} Gwynne Michele’s book Bitchslap Journaling. [Aside:It’s part of the {another affiliate link} Kindle Unlimited program and you don’t have to have a Kindle to be able to read it. (If you sign up at that affiliate link, you can get a 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited and I’ll get a small reward from Amazon.)]

Bitchslap Journaling is not for the faint of heart, I must warn you. But what you *can* do is start out easy with it and delve deeper as you feel able to do so.

Purge Some Stuff

Mother Nature is purging some stuff, at least here in the southeastern United States, and fall self-care is a good time to purge some stuff, too.

Fall tends to be when I get a lot better about keeping my email inbox under a couple hundred emails at a time, for example. It’s also when my computer’s desktop is a bit cleaner.

Something new that I’ve tried this year is a social media cleanup. I’m debating deleting some accounts that I no longer use, such as my Twitter account, and I recently did a radical thing on Facebook. I killed my newsfeed.

A couple of months ago I installed the Social Fixer plugin and that helped a lot. Then I ran acrossthis article about Facebook and how it keeps us locked into it all day, every day and installed News Feed Eradicator. Most of us are fairly aware of the fact that Facebook is manipulating us, but that article helps to lay it all out and it’s fascinating. Meanwhile, I’m in love with News Feed Eradicator.

Rest

Rest is underrated. In western societies, it’s even regarded as lazy. Start learning what your body needs and give it what it needs when you can. If you can rest, do so. You don’t have to spend every moment of every day running at full speed. In fact, if you do, you’re going to burn yourself out.

Go Outside

Fall self-care is the perfect time for you to go outside more often. It’s cooler here than it has been, which means that it’s so much nicer to be outside. Get some fresh air and enjoy what you can of your surroundings before the super cold weather gets here and you’re trapped inside. Being outside more often is also a great way to make sure that you’re getting morevitamin D naturally.

Ground, Ground, Ground

I’m a huge fan of grounding. We lead such scattered lives and our attention is demanded in so many different directions that it’s easy to lose your mooring. Grounding is a way to get it back. There are plenty of essential oils and crystals you can use for grounding, which I detailed in this linked post. There are also a ton of other ways listed over there that you can ground.

Hopefully some of these fall self-care ideas work for you.

What are some of your favorite self-care ideas for this time of year? Comment below!